133: Shocking Change (Part 3)

"Dawn is almost here..."

Zhou Chutian looked out the window leisurely, a wine cup and several small dishes by his side. "According to my estimation, the forces at the Estate outside the city have likely been wiped out. Never mind those two princesses; Marquis Mo alone would probably suffice."

"Then why did you send so many people there?" A Taoist priest sat opposite him. He wasn't drinking wine, but holding a cup of green tea. "Is it that in your heart, human lives really aren't lives?"

"Hearing those words from you, Daoist, is truly a great irony." The sarcasm in Zhou Chutian's voice was completely undisguised. "How many young maidens have been killed by your hands during your years in my manor? I've lost count."

"This humble priest merely did so to advance my cultivation. Moreover, I never touched a single hair on those girls' heads." The Taoist priest looked completely indifferent. "I have no intention of defending myself; evil is evil. It's just that compared to you, my small amount of killing karma is truly insignificant."

"It's the same principle: to achieve a goal, a price must always be paid." Zhou Chutian picked up his wine cup and drained it. "Merchants spend silver for goods. Officials wishing to bribe their superiors need more than just silver—antiques, paintings, even women... Ha, for those with a taste for 'Dragon and Sun,' perhaps even men."

"Tsk, that sounds a bit disgusting."

"But it's the truth, Daoist. To get something, you must give something."

"Hahaha, you certainly make it sound easy. Since it's not you dying or being injured, you can naturally act as if it has nothing to do with you."

Zhou Chutian didn't argue. He just poured another cup of wine and casually picked up a kidney bean to eat. "I truly don't care. People like me, or The Emperor—those of us who hold power—naturally have the capital in our positions to make others risk their lives for us."

"Heh, what you say is truly laughable." The Taoist priest set down his teacup and actually grabbed a spicy chicken wing from the table to eat. "Power isn't everything. Take me, for example—if you hadn't used despicable means to poison me with a Gu, how could I be under your control?"

"Indeed, but it's precisely because I have power that I could find this Gu and use it on you." Zhou Chutian wore a smug, punchable smile. "No need to be so quick to deny me, Daoist. Most of you people from the martial world don't obey the imperial court and think highly of yourselves. But if it came down to actually opposing the court, how many would dare?"

"No matter how high your martial arts are, so what? Daoist, never mind that the Shen Family brothers' skills are excellent and they are the bravest in the army; if tens of thousands of soldiers were deployed—cavalry in front, archers behind—Daoist... how long could your superb swordsmanship hold out?"

The Taoist priest snorted coldly and didn't respond, just continued eating his chicken wing. But he knew the truth: even for someone like him, if he were truly surrounded and suppressed by the regular imperial army, he probably wouldn't last long before being beheaded and displayed to the public.

Annihilating tens of thousands of troops while talking and laughing? Don't be ridiculous; those are immortals in storybooks. Although he was a Taoist priest, it was precisely because of this that he knew there were no such things as immortals in this world. Perhaps there were, but he had never seen one, and he feared he wasn't worthy of seeing one in this lifetime, nor was it possible.

"So, while I indeed have a hold on you, aren't you also relying on me?" Zhou Chutian looked at the moonlight outside. "Speaking of which, I heard you've acquired another stunning beauty recently, Daoist?"

"Don't make it sound like I'm lustful." The Taoist priest looked at him with disdain. "I only care about my own cultivation. That Old Layman came here last time; it's hard to say if he'll return... Speaking of which, you sent out so many experts, why did none of them go to assassinate that Old Layman?"

"There's no point. Just as you've been in my manor for years, who has come to kill you recently?"

It wasn't that Zhou Chutian hadn't considered killing Nangong Wumeng or Xie Qingfeng. It was just that he knew the difficulty was too great and there would be no positive gain for him. Although, if his people killed Mo Yingqi today, Xie Qingfeng would almost certainly come to kill him.

He had also gathered some intelligence on Xie Qingfeng. Though sparse, it confirmed that he only had one Disciple, Mo Yingqi. If that lineage were severed, wouldn't this King of Hell go on a killing spree?

But he didn't care. For one, he had no intention of Mo Yingqi dying; the people he sent weren't actually targeting Mo Yingqi. Of course, even without Mo Yingqi, he knew that none of the people he sent would likely return, and none of the opponents would die.

"Can you tell me what you're actually planning now?" The Taoist priest looked at him, his eyes filled with confusion. "I fear the capital won't be peaceful tonight. I won't ask where you got so many experts, but what's the point of sending them to assassinate? I've never been able to see through you. You always say you don't want to be emperor, but all your actions are no different from rebellion..."

"It is rebellion, but I'll say it again: I have no interest in the throne." Zhou Chutian spoke leisurely while drinking. "Being an emperor is too exhausting; I don't have the energy. Besides, how old am I now? Changing dynasties isn't that easy."

"Then what are you doing all this for?"

"As for The Emperor, if he's disobedient, make him obey. If he still won't, then replace him." Zhou Chutian's tone suddenly turned cold. "After tonight, no matter what, The Emperor and I will have completely fallen out. He has military power, while I am all alone on my side..."

"Heh, stop talking such nonsense." Sometimes the Taoist priest really wanted to stab this Grand Chancellor, who never spoke a word of truth, to death. "I only hope that when you reach the King of Hell, you can still speak in such riddles!"

"Ha, I don't believe in karmic retribution from the underworld. If such things existed, how could I still be living so well?" Zhou Chutian laughed loudly. "I never intended to wait too long. Since I'm acting tonight, I'm aiming for The Emperor's vitals. His most trusted people—those who have recently emerged—I'll kill as many as I can."

"The Pacification Bureau and the Imperial Guard are what The Emperor relies on most in the city. Although there's no official decree yet, Fang Wenbo essentially manages the entire Pacification Bureau. His most capable subordinates are none other than Marquis Mo, Lu Qianyuan, and that Tang Jingzhong."

"Tang Jingzhong is currently under Ning Wuya; perfect, both of them must die. The Shen Family is outside, and even if they hold troops, distant water cannot put out a nearby fire. The City Patrol Command is also full of my people, and all news from the garrison outside the city is being intercepted by my men or replaced with false reports."

"Tonight, I'm not just going after these few people. Tomorrow morning, The Emperor will likely come to my door in person. When that happens, I'll need your assistance, Daoist."

The Taoist priest didn't want to deal with him. In his eyes, this man was no longer sane. His actions were abnormal, his words were abnormal, yet he had no way to deal with him.

"As for my people, ha, I'm afraid it's not just you who's confused. Even the Late Emperor didn't know when I came to possess so many capable experts." Zhou Chutian slammed his wine cup onto the table. "I originally prepared this for him, but he... didn't know what was good for him. Ha, saying this might be considered lèse-majesté."

"Grand Chancellor, you've drunk too much."

"Don't worry, Daoist, I'm not drunk. It's just that there's no one else to say these things to. We've known each other for many years; though there's no real affection between us, we are old acquaintances after all." Zhou Chutian stroked his beard. "People just shouldn't forget their roots, but the Late Emperor was exactly that kind of person."

"This world belongs to his Luo family, and no one can replace them unless they bring about their own ruin. But back then, if it weren't for me, who knows by whose hand that Crown Prince would have died long ago."

"He ascended the throne, and I became the Grand Secretary, the head of the Grand Secretariat. If he had been willing to listen to me, with our chemistry and talent, the Daxing Dynasty would surely have reached even greater heights. But do you know why the Late Emperor and I eventually went our separate ways?"

"He thought he was The Emperor and actually began to find fault with my words, thinking I was too arbitrary and worrying that I was plotting against his empire. Hahahaha, how laughable! If I truly had such intentions, the throne would never have been his to sit on. With my talent and my king-making skills, when I was by his side, other princes did everything to get me to assist them, but I never gave them a second thought."

Zhou Chutian spoke with rising excitement and poured another full cup of wine, draining it in one gulp. Looking at the cup in his hand, he momentarily appeared somewhat sorrowful. "This set of wine vessels was specially made for me by the Late Emperor when he first ascended the throne. Knowing that I enjoyed a few drinks in my leisure time, appreciating the wind and moon and singing over wine, he specifically sought out a master craftsman. But now..."

Zhou Chutian raised his hand and smashed the wine cup onto the ground. Looking at the shattered ceramic fragments, his eyes regained their usual coldness. "When Liu Bang ascended the throne, he killed Han Xin and the confidants who had conquered the world with him, simply because his status had changed. In the past, he needed Han Xin, so he could naturally allow Han Xin to say 'the more, the better'—at once displaying his own talent and telling Liu Bang, 'You are simply not as good as me.'"

"But times change. Initially, he was a hero thirsty for talent, needing capable people to assist him. But later, he was the founding emperor who had unified the world. The circumstances were different, but the logic remains the same. Before the Late Emperor ascended, we called each other brothers and swore an oath of kinship. But once he became emperor, he was the sovereign and I was the subject; his brother could no longer be me, and naturally, he would no longer listen to my every arrangement as he did back then."

"How ridiculous. I kindly advised him not to follow the ancestral systems of the Great Ancestor, to close the ports, to stop trading with foreign nations, and especially not to let foreign customs and knowledge flow into our Daxing Dynasty. He actually said I intended to ruin the country! Hahaha, does he not know that these things are fine for the imperial family's use, but if they fall into the hands of the common people, how could he sit securely on his throne? Even if he sat securely, what about his descendants?"

The Taoist priest didn't respond but secretly cursed Zhou Chutian. The reason the Daxing Dynasty was prosperous was precisely because it opened trade, emulating the customs of the Li Tang, trading with foreign countries while learning the knowledge and skills they had that the Daxing Dynasty lacked.

Even though the Daxing Dynasty's territory was vast, isolationism is like looking at the sky from the bottom of a well. Could a man as talented as Zhou Chutian not know this?

He knew exactly, which is why he wanted to do it. He understood perfectly that technologies like firelocks were imported from abroad. Now, the Imperial Guard and various regions had long since begun equipping musketeers. Furthermore, the Daxing Dynasty had 'learned the superior techniques of the barbarians to control the barbarians,' performing secondary improvements on the firelocks to make them significantly more powerful and stable.

But Zhou Chutian didn't believe such technology should be spread freely. It should be firmly controlled by the imperial family and the Grand Secretariat. Moreover, there was no need to be polite to foreign envoys; it was enough to create an impression among the people that the Daxing Dynasty was number one in the world.

(Refers to the Qing government; the author personally dislikes the Qing government and is taking the opportunity to be sarcastic, don't mind it.)

To put it bluntly, Zhou Chutian's idea was to make the subjects of the Daxing Dynasty always believe that royal power was irreplaceable, making it easier to rule them and centralize power.

But the Late Emperor didn't think so. While it was true the previous Daxing Dynasty perished because the last emperor was debauched and lawless, the biggest hidden danger was that the previous Daxing Dynasty was complacent and shortsighted, its gaze always fixed on the present without seeing the wider world.

Furthermore, human hearts have never been controllable. The common people don't care who The Emperor is, nor do they care whose name the world carries; they only care if they can fill their stomachs, and that is enough.

Maintaining an empire isn't done this way. A strong populace makes a strong nation. If a ruler doesn't even have this much confidence, then if the world truly changes hands, it is only right.

"There's more. My ideas, the strategies I planned for him—he found problems with all of them, ha..." Zhou Chutian slapped the table in irritation. "Forget it, no use mentioning it. As for these people, I never thought I'd have to use them on his son. Compared to the Late Emperor, Luo Nantian has a sterner temperament, but this man... he's too sentimental, placing too much importance on his relatives and family."

"Even knowing his own daughters... Heh, never mind, it doesn't matter anymore. After tonight, even if Nickname and Luo Yongning aren't killed, this will be enough."

The Taoist priest didn't care to listen and didn't agree with his ideas. This man was a pure political animal; all his thinking was geared toward ruling and playing power games.

He didn't care about the common people. He cared even less about whether people died or how many died.

Was he loyal to the Late Emperor? Inevitably. But unfortunately, his loyalty carried too much cruelty and ruthlessness, along with his arbitrariness, arrogance, indifference, and selfishness.

"As for these people, hahahaha, that's why I say the Late Emperor was still too trusting of others." Zhou Chutian sneered, picked up his chopsticks, and ate a few bites of the side dishes. As he chewed, he said, "Under my command, I have five thousand dead soldiers, and these five thousand... were all secretly drawn by me from the Border Army before the two of us had our falling out."

"Are you joking?" The Taoist priest couldn't believe his ears. "Five thousand people, and from the Border Army? You..."

"That's right, five thousand, and from the Border Army." Zhou Chutian suddenly looked at the Taoist priest, his eyes burning. "I assume you must have heard of the famous Anlin Raid, where the jin man people attacked a Daxing Dynasty border unit responsible for a sweep."

"But that time... that raid never actually happened!"